Portable ammunition and water carrier and litter.



No. 704,427. Patented July 8, I902.

H. F. L. ALLEN.

PURTABLE AMMUNITION AND WATER CARRIER AND LITTER.

(Application filed Dec. 4, 1901.]

(No Model.) 2 Shuts-Sheet I.

Nu. 704,427. Patented July 8, 1902.

H. F. L. ALLEN.

PORTABLE AMMUNITION AND WATERGARRIER ANDLITTER.

(Application filed Dec. 4, 1901.)

(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Wfflesses Imus/"afar r 4 I M $06 M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT F. L. ALLEN, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN MILITARY EQUIPMENT CO., OF WVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

PORTABLE AMMUNITION AND WATER CARRIER AND LITTER.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,427, dated July 8, 1902.

Application filed December 4, 1901. Serial No. 84.704. (No model.) I

To (tZZ whmn it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT F. L. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of \Vashington, in the District of Columbia, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Portable Ammunition and Water Carriers and Litters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in IO portable ammunition and water carriers and litters, and is an improvement on the invention disclosed in my application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 83,164, filed November 21, 1901, the present invention having special I5 reference to a collapsible draft appliance used in connection with two of these portable ammunition and water carriers and litters when coupled together, whereby the draft appliance, as well as the vehicles, is constructed to fold into small compass.

\Vith the foregoing object in View my present invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter described,

and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view showing the two vehicles ,coupled together with the draft appliance attached thereto. Fig. 2 is a view of the same in side elevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the draft appliance; and Fig. 4 is a side View of the same.

A A represent two vehicles mounted each on a single centrally-located wheel B and con- 3 5 structed in every respect like the invention disclosed in the application above referred to-that is to say, the frame is collapsible widthwise in each individual vehicle, so that each can be folded to. a width only a trifle 4o wider than the width of the wheel. These are connected together in any approved manner. A C indicates the improved draft appliance, and the numeral 1 indicates a cross-bar corresponding to the cross-bar of an ordinary pair of shafts or thills, and this cross-bar serves as a means of coupling the side bars of the vehicle-frames together, hinged clamps 2 2 being employed to swing over said side bars and a key 8 being used to hold them in place. This cross-bar is made in two sections hinged together at 4, forming, in effect,

a knife-joint which folds in one direction onlynamely, rearward. The shafts or thills 5 5 are pivotally connected, by means of bolts 6 6, to the cross-bar 1, and the bolts are provided with nuts 7 7, so that the shafts or thills may be removed, if desired. Braces 8 8 extend from the cross-bar to the shafts or thills to retain the latter rigidly in place, and these braces are held in place at their ends bybolts 9 and 10 to the cross-barand shafts, respectively. If preferred, the braces may behooked to the shafts at 10 10. In any event it is desirable that this should be a removable connection in order to allow the parts to fold into compact space. The singletree 11 is pivoted beneath the cross-bar by the same bolt 4: which holds the sections of the cross-bar together. Draft-bars 12 12 extend rearward from the bolts 9 9, which latter connect them pivotally with the two sections of the cross-bar. Folding brace 13, constructed substantially like cross-bar 1, extends across from one draft-bar 12 to the other, it being pivotally connected at opposite ends to said draft-bars by means of bolts 14 14. Rigid braces 15 15 extend from the sections of the folding brace 13 to the draft-bars 12 12, and these rigid braces 15 15 are pivotally connected at one end and hooked or otherwise removably connected at the other end to permit the parts to fold. Forks FF straddle the wheels and afford a meanszof connection of the draft appliance to the axles 16 16 of the wheels, they being hooked, as at 17, around said axles. These forks are swiveled,

as at 18 18, to the rear ends of the draft-bars 12 12 to permit them to be folded vertically when the parts are collapsed.

At the rear a coupling 19 connects the ve- 9o hicles together, and this coupling 19 has hinged clamps 2 2, precisely like those previously described in connection with the cross-bar 1. WVhen the appliance is in place, it of course prevents the collapse of the vehicles which it couples together, and when they are to be collapsed the pins or keys 3 3 are removed from the clamps 2 2 and the pins 20 20 from the forks F F. In this simple way the draft appliance is entirely disconzoo nected, when by unfastening the rigid braces 8 8 and 15 the appliance is folded together through its median line, the forks F F being turned vertically, and in this way the draft appliance is folded together compactly. The vehicles are also folded together, as fully explained in the previous application.

While I have explained just the features illustrated in the drawings, stillit is perfectly obvious that a tongue or pole might with slight alteration be employed in lieu of the shafts or thills and, furthermore, that other slight changes might be resorted to in the form and arrangement of the several parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the exact construction herein set forth; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I 1. A collapsible draft appliance having forks swiveled at its rear end whereby the appliance is capable of attachment to the axle of the vehicle.

2. A collapsible draft appliance comprising a folding cross-bar and brace, draft-bars, means for attaching the appliance to the draftanimal, and rigid braces.

a folding cross-bar and brace, draft-bars, means for attaching the appliance to the draftanimal, and forks swiveled to the rear ends of the draft-bars, said forks constructed and capable of folding together, means connected therewith for the attachment of a draft-animal, clamps for connecting the cross-bar to the side bars of the vehicles, and means for connecting the rear ends of the vehicles together.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HERBERT F. L. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

W. H. BADEN, SANFORD EDIE. 

